Message of Abbot Paul - Sunday 18th July

Message from Fr Paul for Sunday, 18th July 2021

           As it’s Sunday, we leave St Matthew for the day and return to St Mark. The more I read and study Mark, the more I appreciate the beauty and simplicity of his writing, as well as his ability to say so much in so few words, a skill I need to learn. Today’s passage, (Mk 6: 30-34), shows the pastoral care and attention that Jesus has both towards the crowds as well as towards his disciples. “The apostles rejoined Jesus and told him all they had done and taught. Then he said to them, ‘You must come away to some lonely place all by yourselves and rest for a while’; for there were so many coming and going that the apostles had no time even to eat. So they went off in a boat to a lonely place where they could be by themselves.” You might remember that Jesus had sent out the apostles to preach among the “lost sheep of Israel” and to heal those who were sick. They come back and tell him their adventures. Jesus can see they’re exhausted both physically and spiritually. I know exactly how they feel. He suggests a short break, a rest, a retreat, some peace and quiet, time to recover their energy and prepare themselves for the next mission. It also looks as though they’re in need of a decent meal, some nourishing food. Above all, perhaps, they need a rest from the crowds, all those people constantly coming and going. However, even our best plans can come unstuck and not even Jesus can outwit the crowds. Mark tells us, “But people saw them going, and many could guess where; and from every town they all hurried to the place on foot and reached it before them. So as he stepped ashore he saw a large crowd; and he took pity on them because they were like sheep without a shepherd, and he set himself to teach them at some length.” If the crowds knew where they were going, this must have been a regular thing, for no sooner than they step ashore than the crowds are already upon them. But Jesus has compassion for them and takes pity on them, they are like “sheep without a shepherd” and so he leaves food and rest for later and begins to teach them, and not in a few words, but as Mark says, “at length.”

           One might ask, why were they like sheep without a shepherd? Why did they have this desperate need for Jesus, this hunger for his word? It’s clear from the Gospels that the religious leaders in Israel at the time of Jesus had lost the respect of the people, who could see through their grasping, authoritative ways and their hypocrisy. They were not the shepherds that God had called them to be. They had failed completely in their ministry. Now, among them, there must have been some good men, for we see synagogue officials, scribes and Pharisees coming to Jesus and recognising in him the hand of God and his authority, and we know that many of the early Christians came from these sections of Jewish society both in Israel and in the diaspora. This is a good day to pray for the Holy Father Pope Francis, for bishops, priests and deacons, for parents, teachers and catechists, and for all who are called by God to be shepherds of the flock.